Lord of the Rings Tolkien First 1st Edition Set Fellowship Two Tower Return King

Description: A vintage first edition set of J. R. R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, dating from 1961-1962 and evidently bought together in 1962 in Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road in London since they are all inscribed by the first owner on the front endpaper and two of them have Foyles stickers on their front pastedown: The Fellowship of the Ring, 12th printing 1962; The Two Towers, 9th printing 1962; The Return of the King, 8th Printing 1961. Published in London by George Allen & Unwin and bound in scarlet cloth with gilt lettering to the spine and Tolkien’s fold-out red and black maps of Middle-Earth mounted on the rear endpapers. Jacket designs and all illustrations are by the author. These books were adapted into perhaps the most famous trilogy of movies of the 21st century to date and are regularly cited as the greatest fictional writings ever in public polls. The continuing interest in Tolkien’s works is exemplified by Amazon’s ongoing Rings of Power series set in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth in its Second Age. Some of the material on which the Amazon series is based first appeared in the appendices to the first edition of The Return of the King. Jackets are age-toned in the white areas and the spines to look like antique parchment, which Tolkien must have intended since he designed the covers and he left these areas unprinted (i.e. did not use white ink), so this is not sunning but the natural sepia toning of the unprinted paper with long exposure to the air. Will be posted in bubblewrap and cardboard layers to preserve their condition. Dustjackets will be protected in removable clear cellophane when delivered. CONDITION A collectible, well-matched, complete (including maps) and intact original set with traces of its 62-year history. Very good condition with some light marks and a few dustjacket repairs (see photos). The Fellowship of the Ring: Book is very good with faint marks to its boards. The dustjacket is not price-clipped and is very good with repairs to short tears and a triangular chip with 4cm edges at the bottom left corner of its rear panel replaced with a piece of identical paper from another first edition LOTR dustjacket. The Two Towers: Book is very good with faint marks to its boards and a couple of tiny nibbles to the long edge of a few of the front endpapers (see photos). The dustjacket is not price-clipped and has a few small repairs mainly to fold corners. The Return of the King: Book is very good with faint marks to its boards and a few light foxing spots to the long edge of the page block. The dustjacket is not price-clipped and has a few small repairs to fold corners.

Price: 1199.99 GBP

Location: Bristol

End Time: 2024-11-05T08:21:10.000Z

Shipping Cost: 92.82 GBP